Pratt’s Preferences

I love participating in community activities, tasting new wines and beers, trying unique recipes and foods, listening to interesting new sounds and experiencing new things. It is good, not only for me and my wife, Sara, to get out and try new things, but also for the local community and economy.

I’ll be attempting to keep up with this weekly feature, in which I am going to cheaply call “Pratt’s Preferences,” where I suggest events to participate in, items to buy and things to try. No ad dollars are put into this and the points I make are my preferences alone.

I’m sure many of you are reading this in the earlier half of your day, which is the perfect time to start talking about my latest addiction.

Recently, whenever I find myself getting food on the run, it has been at Tudor’s Biscuit World. Even if you’re not reading this in the morning, oh well, this is 2015; it is always breakfast time.

I’ve recently started watching what I eat, by mostly limiting fast food and portion sizes, so I’ve not had Tudor’s in a brief minute, but I could easily replace one, if not all, of my daily meals with something from their menu. I know, I don’t typically discuss fast food in these columns, but New Boston Tudor’s always tastes fresh and rises above the expectations of fast food. It takes a little longer to get through their line, but it is worth every second.

If you’re looking for family events this weekend, there are plenty of festive celebrations on Saturday. From the Pet Photos with Santa event, to the annual Breakfast with Santa, to the New Boston parade; there is plenty going on this weekend to welcome the season. For exact dates and times, see the “In the Know” calendar in the entertainment section.

After a day of holiday cheer, it is nice to get cozy at home.

A lot of people warm up with Irish coffee, but I’m not a coffee person. I am a Jameson person, however, which is guaranteed to warm you up just the same. To get in the season, I recommend a favorite winter cocktail called northern lights.

Recipes vary, but I like to make mine with Jameson and Peach Schnapps, with equal parts orange juice and cranberry juice. It is sweet, but the Jameson makes it tolerable. You might notice that I’m not being specific with measurements, because I usually go by personal desire of mixture. I am worried my dominant parts Jameson might worry people.

Just remember, if you serve these to friends, make sure Steve doesn’t decide to go into the front yard to make snow angels, when he is only wearing a Santa hat. Frostbite and jail, I assume, aren’t fun.

Since there are plenty of activities to get involved in come Saturday, I recommend a visit to River Town Antique Mall on Sunday. The shop is one of the few small business open on Sundays.

The owner, Gary Kenyon, is always there from noon to 5 p.m., to meet with customers and welcome them to browse the 40 plus vending spaces that make up 543 and 541 Second Street.

I only visited the shop recently and I really enjoyed the 45-minute talk I had with Kenyon.

When talking about the area, he smiles and lights up, recalling a downtown Portsmouth in his youth. I love his optimism for his home, as well as his desire to be a part of the growth in Boneyfiddle. He is also pushing to renovate the old building, in order to preserve the antique design and history.

There are many local businesses worth visiting. Local artists are found in abundance between the Appalachian hills. There are a lot of unique flavors found in restaurants and breweries.

I hope to highlight many of these throughout these features. I am also open to recommendations from readers as well.